October's SLAS Technology Leads with Cover Article, "Role of Digital Microfluidics in Enabling Access to Laboratory Automation and Making Biology Programmable"

Oak Brook, IL –  The October issue of SLAS Technology features the cover article, “Role of Digital Microfluidics in Enabling Access to Laboratory Automation and Making Biology Programmable” by Varun B. Kothamachu, Ph.D., Sabrina Zaini and Federico Muffatto (Digi.Bio).

October’s cover article explores the role of digital microfluidics (DMF) as a “digital bioconverter” that brings together the digital aspects of the design-build-learn cycle with the physical nature of experimentation. The article also discusses the function of a DMF device and examines how DMF is limited by known technical and operational challenges and the key to overcoming these challenges.

Such challenges that face scientists are the associated costs and late-stage risk in developing microfluid technologies for the purpose of diagnosing and preventing bodily disorders, including haemostatic disorders, cancers and molecular abnormalities.

The latest issue includes six articles of original research, in addition to a technical brief, a methods and protocol article, and the featured cover article.

Original research articles include:

• Microfluidic Pneumatic Printed Sandwiched Microdroplet Array for High-Throughput Enzymatic Reaction and Screening
• Microflow-Based Device for In Vitro and Ex Vivo Drug Permeability Studies
• Integration of Acoustic Liquid Handling into Quantitative Analysis of Biological Matrix Samples
• Diffusion MRI-Derived per Area Vessel Density as a Surrogate Biomarker for Detecting Viral Hepatitis-B Induced Liver Fibrosis: A Proof of Concept Study
• Hybrid Blood Collection Tubes: Combining the Best Attributes of Glass and Plastic for Safety and Shelf Life
• A Comparative Analysis of Methods for Quantitation of Sugar during the Corn-to-Ethanol Fermentation Process

Other articles include:

• Role of Digital Microfluidics in Enabling Access to Laboratory Automation and Making Biology Programmable
• Xcellerate Investigator Portal: A New Web-Based Tool for Online Delivery of Central Laboratory Data, Reports and Communications to Clinical Sites
• Centrifugal Generation of Droplet-Based 3D Cell Cultures

Access to October’s SLAS Technology issue is available at https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/jlad/25/5 through November 20. For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit www.slas.org/publications/slas-technology/. Access a “behind the scenes” look at the latest issue with SLAS Technology Authors Talk Tech podcast. Tune in by visiting https://www.buzzsprout.com/1099523.

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SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international community of 16,000 professionals and students dedicated to life sciences discovery and technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building.

SLAS Discovery: Advancing the Science of Drug Discovery, 2019 Impact Factor 2.195. Editor-in-Chief Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D., Twentyeight-seven Therapeutics, Boston, MA (USA).

SLAS Technology: Translating Life Sciences Innovation, 2019 Impact Factor 2.174. Editor-in-Chief Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Ph.D., National University of Singapore (Singapore).

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